GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

September 12, 2008

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www.GayPeoplesChronicle.com

letterstotheeditors

Let Stephanie's voice not be silenced

To the Editors:

Our community mourns the loss of someone who was not just our member of Congress, but who was our representative in addition to being our Representative.

I've lived in four congressional districts and lobbied legislators from city council members to state representatives to staff of United States senators. Stephanie Tubbs Jones was the first ever to hug me and call me

"baby," a moniker which prompted an excited call to my mom.

The congresswoman came and spoke at Case School of Law last fall and I had the unique opportunity to speak with her one on one beforehand. We talked across each other for the whole time. I spent the duration of the conversation explaining why a united ENDA was important. Stephanie spent the entire time asking what I was studying, how I was doing, etc.

Stephanie was an outspoken advocate and strong voice for her beliefs, including

communitygroups

LGBT equality. She fought for safer college living and fought poverty and foreclosures in her district.

For the first time in my life, I had someone who was not just the Representative from my congressional district, but someone who was my representative.

Many others in the area feel the same way. She will be missed, but let her voice not be silenced.

Michael Spivak Shaker Heights

Bear camp party benefits Metro Youth

by Shane Cook

New London, Ohio-A weekend of partying for bears, cubs, chubs, chasers and admirers at a campground near Cleveland will benefit the Metro Youth Outreach program of the Cleveland LGBT Center.

But first, imagine why Metro Youth Outreach is needed.

It's 11 pm in your city, your state, your county, your town. Your sister, brother or friend calls you on the phone. It's "Samantha," your niece, or your friends' daughter, the one you have picked up at the movies, the one who has lots of friends and the one who always has a smile on her face. Samantha has run away. She was trying to tell us that she was different than what your sister, your brother or your friends wanted her to be. She told us she thought she might be gay, bisexual or didn't feel like she belonged in the body that she was born in.

Lucky for them they live in Cleveland. There is a place you can think of, off the top of your head. The Cleveland LGBT Center's Metro Youth Outreach. Maybe you've read about it in some newspaper or maybe it was on the TV news. You call information, get the number and call.

You get hold of program director Mika

Major, you give a description of “Samantha" and by the grace above, she is there. She checked into the center after getting the number from a friend. She was tired, scared but otherwise seems okay. Samantha asks for a meeting at the center between her parents, a counselor and herself.

Happily she now is back home, learning how to cope with all that she is discovering that you, your sister, your brother, or your friends are only concerned because they know the hardship "Samantha" faces

Pride Shows

now, but more importantly, that they love her, no matter what, and that's more impor-

tant.

However hundreds and even thousands are not so lucky, they are on your streets in your city, right now. Too scared to go home, and with nowhere to turn, they face abuses too scary to mention, and all of them have one question to ask you! "Can you help me?"

On September 19-21, Pride Shows Entertainment and Chubnet.com team up with Freedom Valley Campground near New London, Ohio, to provide a great fun way to

help raise funds for the Cleveland LGBT Center's Metro Youth Outreach program.

Camp Carnivale will be a gathering of bears, chubs, cubs and chasers unlike any` you have ever seen. A weekend filled with entertainment, set in a theme of fun and frolic. The campground will be filled with entertainment, games, concerts, comedians and more, including a ball, VIP party and "Feast on the Beast" cookout.

The organizers cannot do it alone though, they need your help. Whether it be monetarily through sponsorship of any of our great entertainers, advertising, marketing the event or sending volunteers to help. Every effort counts so much!

See the website at www.prideshows.com or contact Pride Shows event coordinator Shane Cook at 866-536-8349, or e-mail shane@prideshows.com to help. All vendors, entertainers and craftpersons receive a free vendor area, no charge at all, and all vendors receive a pass to exclusive VIP

events.

For more information on the center's Metro Youth Outreach program, contact Mika Major at MMajor@lgbtcleveland.org.

Shane Cook is the Pride Shows event coordinator.

Liberation UCC to celebrate 15 years

by Jim Ebbenga

Lakewood-Liberation United Church of Christ in Lakewood will celebrate its 15th anniversary on Sunday, September 14, with special music, recognition of the church's charter members, and a guest preacher. Worship begins at 10:30 a.m. Afterward, a reception planned by the Congre-

Liberation United Church of Christ

gational Life Committee will be held in the church's Parkwood Hall. Special displays in the hall will highlight the church's history and ministry. All are invited to join in the celebration.

Rev. Michael Schuenemeyer, executive for Health and Wholeness Advocacy of the United Church of Christ, will be the guest preacher. In his position, Schuenemeyer coordinates LGBT and HIV/AIDS ministries for the United Church of Christ. He also

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serves on the board of directors of Equality Ohio.

Liberation had its beginnings in 1992, when a proposal to create a new congregation with a special outreach to the LGBT community was written by UCC ministers David O'Malley and Bill Johnson and approved by the Western Reserve Association of the UCC. It received strong support from Rev. Robert Strommen, the Association Minister.

The congregation's first worship service was held at the Hillel StuIdent Center at Case Western Reserve University on September 12, 1993. Rev. Dan Geslin, hired to be the church's first pastor, officiated. There were 73 charter members, 14 of whom remain members today, including Ralph Sanderson, the church's volunteer office administrator.

Liberation met at Hillel until 1998, when members of Parkwood UCC in Lakewood, having made the difficult decision to dissolve as a congregation because of declining membership, gave their building to the

Western Reserve Association of the UCC with a request that the property and all furnishings be given as a gift to the Liberation congregation.

Following the departure of Dan Geslin in January 2000, the Rev. David Shackle served as interim pastor until January 2003, when the congregation called its current senior pastor, Rev. Kurt Wieser. Originally from Philadelphia, Wieser lives in Westlake with his partner of 18 years, Jim Ebbenga. Rev. Patti Verde has served as part-time associate pastor of Liberation for the past 11 years.

Liberation has been active in Cleveland Pride, the National Conference for Community and Justice, Equality Ohio Lobby Days, the Dr. John Carey Memorial AIDS Walk and other HIV/AIDS and LGBT organizations and events. The church hosts Community United Head Start and Day Care, three AA groups, Codependents Anonymous and the 10% Book Club and has provided meeting space for a variety of community organizations, including the gay-straight alliance at Lakewood High School.

Each month, Liberation, in collaboration with Lakewood Christian Church, hosts a community meal for low-income and homeless people. A group of Liberation volunteers recently helped refurbish homes in Appalachia. The congregation supports the Lakewood Christian Center in a variety of ways as well as other programs serving those with special needs.

Liberation UCC, located at the corner of Parkwood and Madison Avenue in Lakewood, continues to provide an important vital ministry to the entire Cleveland area.

Jim Ebbenga chairs the Worship & Music Committee at Liberation UCC.

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Puoushing the News of Omo's LGBT Communuy strice 196

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